A TV chef, business travelers, families eating breakfast. What we know about the Sri Lanka attack victims

Updated 3:46 PM ET, Thu April 25, 2019

(CNN) - The bomb attacks in Sri Lanka that killed at least 253 people and wounded hundreds of others are a tragedy both locally and internationally.

Suicide bombers struck three Christian churches and four luxury hotels in the cities of Colombo, Negombo and Batticaloa on Sunday morning.

The overwhelming majority of the dead and injured were Sri Lankans.

Some had come from across the world, from as far away as the United States, China, and Turkey. At least 31 international tourists were killed in the attacks, according to a statement from Sri Lanka's ministry of foreign affairs, which revised down the tourism minister's previous estimate of 39 people.

Four days after the coordinated attacks, the Sri Lankan Health Ministry revised the death toll, saying 253 people had died. That toll is significantly lower than the 359 initially reported to CNN by a Colombo police spokesman this week. The health ministry cited the condition of remains and the difficulty in identifying them for the discrepancy.

As information continues to emerge about the victims, here's what we know about them:

5 staff members at Cinnamon Grand hotel

Five Sri Lankan staff members at the Taprobane restaurant in the Cinnamon Grand Hotel were killed in the bombings.

"Four of them were servers at the restaurant, making sure customers had coffee and stuff to drink," a spokeswoman for the hotel told CNN. "One lady was making hoppers (Sri Lankan pancakes). The restaurant manager also passed away."

T.A.A. Yaheya died while celebrating his work anniversary with his family. "He served here for more than five years, so the hotel invited him to spend the entire day with his family, having breakfast, lunch, dinner and then staying overnight," the spokeswoman said.

Celebrity chef Shantha Mayadunne and her daughter

Sri Lankan television chef Shantha Mayadunne and her daughter Nisanga Mayadunne were killed in the explosion at the Shangri-La Hotel, according to two immediate family members.

A Facebook photo apparently posted just before the explosion showed Nisanga and several others eating breakfast in the hotel. The photo caption read "Easter breakfast with family 😊"

Families ripped apart

In Negombo, posters with photos of the dead are displayed outside St. Sebastian Church, one of the targets of Sunday's suicide bombings, according to CNN reporting on the ground. Some show individuals; others entire families.

One pictured a woman and three children. "Rest in peace for Pradeep Susanthas and his whole family, who were killed in the church attack. Our deepest sympathies," it read.

'Several' US citizens

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement that several US citizens were among those killed.

London-based American investment banker Matt Linsey, 61, lost two of his children Amelie, 15, and Daniel, 19, in the blasts that hit the Shangri-La hotel.

Linsey told CNN that they were having breakfast when the first explosion struck. He said he tried to save his children by fleeing the scene with them as quickly as possible, but they were caught in a second blast near the elevators.

"They both were unconscious," Linsey said. "My daughter seemed to be moving. My son wasn't."

He rushed his son to the hospital, thinking his daughter was alright, but health care workers were unable to revive him. "I tried to massage his heart," he said.

In the overflowing hospital, Linsey found Amelie lying lifeless under a sheet.

Kieran Shafritz de Zoysa, a fifth grader from Sidwell Friends -- a highly selective private school in Washington, DC -- was identified as one of the victims.

The school emailed friends and families of attending students with the news that Kieran had died in the blasts.

"Passionate about learning, he adored his friends, and was incredibly excited about returning to Sidwell Friends in the coming school year," school principal Mamadou Guèye wrote in the email.

Kieran was slated to return to Sidwell Friends for middle school next year.

Dieter Kowalski, from Colorado, was identified as one of the American victims by Pearson, the education publishing company for which he worked. "Dieter had just arrived at his hotel, where many of our colleagues have stayed over the years, when he was killed in an explosion," Pearson CEO John Fallon said in a statement.

Dieter's brother Derrick Kowalski confirmed his brother's death on Facebook, saying: "As we know that Dieter saw his friends as family, we would like to share our grief over this tragic incident."

A spokesperson for Germany's foreign ministry said that a German-American dual national had been killed.

Three Shangri-La hotel staff members

The Shangri-La hotel in Colombo confirmed a number of casualties among its staff. "This includes three of our colleagues who were fatally injured in the course of their duties," the hotel said in a Facebook statement on Monday.

ASOS billionaire's children

Three children of ASOS tycoon Anders Holch Povlsen died in the attacks, a spokesman for his clothing chain, Bestseller, confirmed to CNN Monday.

"We can confirm that Anders lost three children in the attack," Jesper Stubkier, Bestseller's communication manager, told CNN in a phone interview. He said he could not give further information about the victims because he "had to respect the privacy of the family."

Povlsen is a member of the board of directors of Bestseller, according to the company's website. Bestseller is the largest shareholder in clothing giant ASOS.

Earlier, Denmark's minister of foreign affairs, Anders Samuelsen, said on Twitter that three Danish nationals were killed in the bombings.

Eight British nationals

At least eight British people are believed to have been killed in the attacks in Sri Lanka, according to Dean Haydon, a senior national coordinator for counter-terrorism policing at London's Metropolitan Police.

Lorraine Campbell, a 55-year-old IT worker from Manchester, was killed in the bombing of the Cinnamon Grand Hotel, her family said in a statement released by London's Metropolitan Police.

"Lorraine was a real tour de force, she epitomized the qualities she lived by, and was a conduit for bringing people together to both make things happen, and make them better," said Campbell's husband, Neil Evans.

Campbell, known to her family as Loz, was living in Dubai and had traveled in Sri Lanka.

The UK Fire Service said on Twitter that retired Greater Manchester Borough Commander Billy Harrop and his wife, Sally, a respected doctor and former director of public health in Manchester, had been killed.

"Many will have already seen the Thin Red Lines appearing on social media. Sadly, retired GMFRS Borough Commander Billy Harrop and his wife Sally were both killed this weekend in the terrible bombing in Sri Lanka. RIP," the agency said on Twitter.

The Manchester Evening News said Harrop had been "celebrated for his heroism during the IRA bombing of Manchester" in 1996. The newspaper said Harrop was 56 and that it was believed he had recently retired to Australia.

Ben Nicholson, a British lawyer working in Singapore, confirmed that his wife, Anita, 14-year-old son Alex, and 11-year-old daughter Annabel were killed in the bombing of the Shangri-La Hotel restaurant.

"Anita was a wonderful, perfect wife and a brilliant, loving and inspirational mother to our two wonderful children," Nicholson said in a statement released by the UK foreign office. "Alex and Annabel were the most amazing, intelligent, talented and thoughtful children and Anita and I were immensely proud of them both and looking forward to seeing them develop into adulthood.

"They shared with their mother the priceless ability to light up any room they entered and bring joy to the lives of all they came into contact with."

He asked for the media to respect his extended family's privacy "and allow us to grieve together."

A Portuguese man

A Portuguese Foreign Ministry spokesperson confirmed to CNN that one person from that country had died. On Monday, Portugese sustainable energy company T&T said in a Facebook post that their friend and collaborator Rui Lucas was one of the victims.

Turkish engineers

Two Turkish citizens were killed in the attack. Both were engineers, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency.

"We are in contact with their families and we will ensure quick return of the bodies to our country," Cavusoglu said.

An Australian mother and her daughter

Two Australians living in Sri Lanka -- a woman named Manik Suriaaratchi and her 10-year-old daughter Alexendria -- were also killed at a church service, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison told Australian TV on Tuesday.

Two other Australians were injured and are in a stable condition, he said earlier.

"One is a woman in her mid-50s and the other a woman in her mid-to-late-20s. Both are in a stable condition, I understand. One is being treated for shrapnel wounds, and one is being treated for a broken leg," Morrison said on Monday.

At least 10 Indians

Ten Indians died in the attacks, according to a statement from Sri Lanka's ministry of foreign affairs.

Niteen Yeola, the press officer for the Indian high commission in Sri Lanka, named seven of the dead as Lakshmana Gowda Ramesh, K.M. Lakshminarayan, K.G. Hanumantharayappa, M. Rangappa, Narayan Chandrashekha, A. Maregowda and H. Puttaraju.

Yeola added that several more Indians were injured, but their names have not been released.

The young relative of Bangladeshi PM

Eight-year-old Bangladeshi citizen Zayan Chowdhury, a cousin of the country's Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, was killed at the Shangri-La, its ministry of foreign affairs said.

Members of the Prime Minister's extended family were at the hotel when the bomb tore through the dining room, according to the ministry's South Asia director, Preeti Rahman.

The child was also a relative of UK MP Tulip Siddiq, the British lawmaker told CNN.

Chinese cousins

Chinese state media reported that two Chinese citizens, who were cousins, died in the attacks. Family members have identified them, the reports said.

Other international casualties

One person from France, one from Japan, one from the Netherlands, one from Spain, and two Saudi Arabian nationals were also killed in the attack, the Sri Lankan ministry of foreign affairs said in its statement.

The nationality of one of the dead is still being determined, the statement said.

Fourteen foreign nationals remained unaccounted for, and could be among the unidentified victims at the Colombo Judicial Medical Officer's mortuary, the ministry said.

Seventeen injured foreign nationals are receiving treatment at the Colombo National Hospital and a private hospital in Colombo while others have been treated and discharged.

Worldwide outpouring of support

Tributes to the victims and condemnation of the attackers have poured in from across the world.

"I wish to show my affectionate closeness to the Christian community, hit while gathered in prayer, and to all the victims of such cruel violence," said Pope Francis in his Easter Urbi et Orbi blessing. "I entrust to the Lord those who have tragically been lost and I pray for the wounded and all those who suffer because of this dramatic event."

In Paris, the Eiffel Tower went dark at midnight Sunday to pay tribute to the victims.

"The attacks on tourists and Easter worshippers in Sri Lanka are an attack on humanity," former US President Barack Obama tweeted. "On a day devoted to love, redemption, and renewal, we pray for the victims and stand with the people of Sri Lanka."

Update: This story has been updated to reflect the death toll has been revised by the Sri Lankan Health Ministry.